Les Graines
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: Kyoko and Sayaka, across timelines, ponder over their places in the world and fight for what they know is right. Without the other, they both might fall too far and too hard. KyoSaya


The church looked sad, as if it were silently begging for the wrecking ball to hit it. It was not as if anyone actually visited or worshiped there any longer.

Or, rather, some did come and visit, but Sayaka hardly thought that the place was happy to see them.

Kyoko simply broke through the doors with one strong kick. The doors hit the floor with a heavy thump, and echoed across the large room. Surprisingly, the place was not as empty as Sayaka had originally thought it would be when she first saw the outside. Wood covered the floor, along with nails and glass shards (it was a good thing that she had sturdy shoes), and small religious objects sprinkled the floor. Sayaka leaned down to look at one - a necklace, half broken, that showed a cross torn in half.

Kyoko eyed it as well, and then looked back to her bag of apples. They gleamed, as if shouting the world that they were red and ripe.

"What did you bring me here for?" Sayaka asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you."

Sayaka balled her fists. "You brought me all the way out to an abandoned church to talk to me? What, are you afraid that someone else will hear us?"

"Oh, don't look so angry." Kyoko walked forward, her eyes still held on the apples. "I have my reasons for bringing you here. Besides, I wouldn't exactly call the story I'm about to tell you family friendly." She chuckled, though it was small and weak.

For a moment, Sayaka froze. A frown had crossed Kyoko's lips for a moment - not a frown of discomfort, but of real, genuine sadness. It had looked wrong on her, in a way; never before had Sayaka seen her like this. Her earlier cockiness was completely gone.

Kyoko sat down on a small step near a dirty, forgotten pew. She placed the bag down beside her, and then patted the other space beside her. "You should sit down; this might take a while, and you look like you need a break."

Sayaka nearly responded, ready to show that her tongue could be as sharp as any knife, but stopped herself. Gleams of sadness still ran through Kyoko's eyes, and it would only be rude to anger her.

Sayaka stepped forward, listening to the way that the floor creaked under her footsteps. The air was thick, though the walls had more than a few openings to the world outside. Though sunlight came in through the windows, thick shadows still covered the place.

"What is this place?"

"A church," Kyoko responded, her usual sarcastic tone gone. It was like looking at a doppelganger; whoever this was, this was not the magical girl whom Sayaka had constantly fought. "I'd call it my church, but it never really was. I wasn't the one who paid the bills for it."

"Why am I here?"

"Like I said earlier, I have something important to tell you."

Sayaka plopped down beside her. Kyoko looked surprisingly relaxed; Sayaka would have expected her shoulders to be tense and right.

Suddenly, something red flashed before her eyes.

"Hungry?" Kyoko asked. She dropped the apple into Sayaka's lap. "It's fine to eat while I tell this; you need your calories and vitamins after all." She pulled an all too familiar box of Pocky out of her pocket and opened it, pulling two sticks out. One, she stuck in her mouth like a cigarette, and the other she dropped in Sayaka's hand.

Sayaka could only blink at the food. With her other free hand, she picked the ripe red apple up from her lap and looked at it. Her reflection could be seen on its surface, her face distorted to look huge and round, and her skin a shade of light red.

"You know how I said earlier that this was not really my church?"

Sayaka nodded, though her eyes remained on the food in her hands. Admittedly, she was hungry; it had been hours since she had last eaten back in the school's cafeteria. She had considered dropping by a restaurant and grabbing something before going out and hunting witches, but she had not had the chance to. Witches did not wait, after all.

Should I even be here? Sayaka thought. What about the witches? What if I need to stop one?

However, her body remained frozen, as if afraid to stand up.

Kyoko asked me to come, and I came. Sayaka closed her eyes. I had the chance to say no, but I said yes anyway.

Kyoko herself had an apple in her hand, half of it already finished off. She seemed to be playing with it in her hands, running her fingers over it and pushing it around her hands.

"This was my father's church. He loved it." She closed her eyes. "I loved him, and I loved this place too."

* * *

It had taken her a while to piece together the obvious. Kyoko always had food - always. No matter where she went or what she did, she always had some sort of food hidden away in her pockets. Even while she was fighting, she had food.

Sayaka just couldn't understand why she would share it with her.

* * *

"Looking back, I can't be sure what I thought was so special about this place." Kyoko stood up and walked towards a corner. Sayaka watched, her body still glued to the ground and the apple still heavy in her hands. The Pocky stick was lighter, yet still seemed to call to her.

She had walked over to where a broken piece of stained glass was. It was bright and colorful, but looked icredibly sharp.

"Be careful!" Sayaka called.

Kyoko looked over at her and smirked, and then chucked the piece of glass into a corner. It shattered on impact, but the pieces did not go flying. "Thank you for the concern." Her smirk had faded, and her hands returned to her pockets.

Sayaka squeezed her apple tighter. "Aren't you afraid of getting hurt?"

"I should be asking the same of you."

A cold feeling ran over Sayaka. "Kyoko, maybe we should go."

"I'm not done yet!" Her usual harsh tone returned to her voice, and her eyes went cold. "There's still more to tell."

"You can tell it to me over pizza," Sayaka said. She had her wallet with her, and pizza suddenly didn't seem so bad. It would be fresh and hot, made by someone else. and would not be the food in her hands. "Or noodles, or burgers, or fried chicken. I'll take you anywhere, or even order take out and let you tell it to me in my room. My parents don't ever barge into my room, anyway."

"You don't need to," Kyoko responded. "Thanks for the date offer, but I'm fine."

Sayaka felt her face go red.

"As I was saying," she added, her tone dropping, "I don't know why I loved this place. I guess my dad just made it seem so cool, but in the end he abandoned it. He just left the place to die, and now I'm the only person who even cares about it. Not that I can do anything for it, though. Money? I have a couple paper bills, but they don't total to much. Time? Sure, I have a lot, but I don't even know how long I could handle being inside this place. Outside help? As if anyone else would want to rebuild this place."

"You don't have to."

"You're right, and I won't." Kyoko stepped forward, and noticed the food in her hands. "Do you have a food allergy or something? Or are those just not your style?" From out of nowhere, like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat or a coin from behind a child's ear, Kyoko pulled out a lumpy sack. She pulled from it various foods - chocolate, beef jerky, cookies, grapes, bananas, and a pomegranate . "How about one of these instead?" She hurled some food over, and Sayaka barely caught it. Her other food fell to her lap.

She opened her fists to find a pomegranate and a still wrapped chocolate bar.

"Come on, if you want to fight witches then you have to eat. That's just taking care of yourself."

Why do I have to eat your food? Sayaka thought.

"I said we could go out-"

"Another time." Kyoko put her hands in her pockets, the sack suddenly gone. "We can't do that now."

Sayaka nodded. "Okay."

* * *

"This one," Sayaka said, looking over the grief seed as Mami had taught her, "has two uses. One for you and one for me."

Kyoko grinned. "Now that makes fighting that witch worth it."

Sayaka took hers first, watching her soul gem turn a deep, bright blue. Then, she handed it over to Kyoko.

"Thank you," she said. "I've been needing to purify this thing."

Her soul gem went from the color of blood to the color of an apple.

* * *

I could always give this back, Sayaka thought. There's nothing saying that I have to eat it.

Her eyes wondered over to the bag. Kyoko already had so many apples...

She brought it to her lips and bit down hard, breaking through its skin and juicy flesh easily. She chewed it slowly, relishing the sweet flavor on her tongue and letting the juice slide down her throat.

* * *

Sayaka took the chocolate bar and ripped it in half across the middle, and then threw the other half to Kyoko. The red haired girl caught it easily between her fingers.

"I don't want all of this."

'You must not have much of a sweet tooth." Kyoko grinned, and took a bite from it. "You know, another person I know wouldn't say that." She shrugged. "Thank you anyway." Her earlier sadness had faded. It was a good thing that she had stopped talking about her father and the church, though Sayaka couldn't be sure if she would start up again. After all, she was right inside of it.

Sayaka bit into her own half. The chocolate was hard and cold, but still sweet and easily melted on her tongue.

* * *

Sayaka couldn't feel her legs. She reached for the space where they were supposed to be, and yet all she felt were cold, sharp scales. Wetness covered her in every place, and the whole world was utterly pitch black.

I'm breathing underwater, Sayaka thought.

The idea wasn't so hard to believe; after all, she was submerged in water at that very moment. What happened to her legs, she could not be sure, but she at least knew that she had a lower half of some kind. Something hard covered her shoulders, and something heavy was strapped to her back. They weighed her down, as if made of iron.

Still, she could not be afraid. Wherever she was, she was still alive, even if it was dark and she couldn't see anything, not even herself.

Maybe this is all a nightmare, Sayaka thought. She relaxed, removing her hands from the scales where her legs work. Maybe I'll wake up in my nice, warm bed. I'll wake up to another day of school, and after that I'll cream a witch.

She didn't know why she heard the violin play, but she heard it. How a violin could be in the ocean, she did not know, but she heard it. The noise surrounded her on all sides, so she could not pin point where it exactly it started or which direction to go to find the source.

Instead, she remained still. The water, though dark and cold, was surprisingly peaceful. Even if it was empty, save for her, it was calm. Nothing moved or changed.

How much time passed before she felt the disturbance, she could not be sure. She heard a voice, an all too familiar voice, but again she could not pin point where it was coming from.

"Sayaka!"

Madoka, she thought.

Another joined in, her blood ran cold.

"Sayaka, can you hear us?"

Kyoko.

Why would Kyoko be there? Didn't she hate her? And why would she sound so afraid, so much like she did back at that church?

Sayaka fumbled, struggling to move. Her lower half swam upwards, and her hands reached for what was strapped to her back. Wrapping a fist around a hilt, she discovered it was a sword. Wherever she was, she might end up needing it.

"Sayaka, you have to be there!"

I am here, Kyoko, Sayaka thought. She swam upwards, hoping that it would take her to wherever Kyoko and Madoka were. I'm down here, but I'll be there soon.

* * *

The pomegranate wasn't that good, so Sayaka ate very little of it. Seeds got stuck in her teeth, and she had to pull them out. There were just so, so many, and the flesh itself was not very good either.

The rest she gave back to Kyoko, who took it happily. Looking down at Sayaka, she was beaming.

* * *

Sometimes Sayaka wasn't the witch.

She could feel the beast's - oh, it was hard calling that thing Kyoko (because that could not be her, just could not) - eye's on her. Sayaka held her sword tighter, and held it up. If the beast wanted to come forward, then they would have to face a little pain.

Kyoko had looked so sad in her last moments, her earlier cockiness and sarcasm utterly gone, until she was nothing but the shell of a girl with a heavy frown and deep, sad eyes. Her red hair had looked washed out and messy, and her clothes were far less neat than Sayaka's own.

Now, she was a candle wearing a kimono, riding a horse.

No, Sayaka thought, she isn't.

"What have you done with Kyoko?" Sayaka closed her eyes. When she did, she saw Kyoko's soul gem break apart all over again, and watched the church vanish, replaced by whatever this nightmarish Labyrinth was. "Where is she?"

If she had to, she would cut the witch into a thousand pieces if it would mean finding Kyoko again. She couldn't be gone, just couldn't. They had so many things that they needed to do together, so many witches that they needed to fight. Sayaka's hand felt empty and cold without Kyoko's own hand wrapped around it.

"Tell me!" Sayaka's throat hurt, but she hardly noticed. Just like everything else, it would heal. Besides, she could hardly feel the pain, already vanishing.

Her other pain, the pain inside her mind and the one that wrapped around her heart, was not going away. It wasn't like a bruise or cut.

The witch did not reply. Sayaka could feel her watching her, and she slowly moved forward. All the while, Sayaka remained still, watching the witch and holding her sword up.

* * *

Kyoko didn't know where she was, or why she felt so alone. It was not an unusual feeling, but this time it was harder and sharper than ever before. Her entire body was hot, as if she herself had a fire inside of her.

However, it did not keep away the cold sadness that filled her.

Eventually, she heard someone else. The only thing that she could see in the darkness was herself - her hands, her clothing, her legs.

Still, she would have recognized that voice anywhere.

Huh, Kyoko thought. Maybe I'm not so alone. Maybe that hero is going to save me.

She smiled and closed her eyes. For the first time in a long time she relaxed and smiled; for once she would not have to be doing the saving herself.

* * *

The witch had her in her arms. Sayaka's swords were gone, and all she could do was weakly beat against the horse's side. It did nothing to help.

The witch seemed almost sad, yet a strange air of happiness hung around her as well, almost as if she had found someone that she had missed ever so dearly.

"Kyoko! Where are you?" Tears burned at Sayaka's eyes, and she waited for a reply that she could not be sure would ever come.

* * *

She could have (should have) refused the apple.

* * *

It was a good thing, Sayaka realized, as she struggled (and failed) to escape the witch's clutches, that Madoka had not come with her. How could she protect her friend when she could not even protect herself now?

* * *

She was hungrier than she had originally thought, because she did end up eating a little more of the pomegranate, taking it from Kyoko's outstretched hands.

* * *

Sayaka raced through the water, searching for a surface that was not there.

Am I going to drown? she thought, but then shook her head. Her own lungs felt fine, as if she had suddenly grown gils.

Like magic.

But Kyoko was fire, nothing but a human girl with human lungs who would surely be snuffed out by the water. Sayaka needed to find her before it was too late. With that thought, she pushed herself to go forward, moving her tail quickly.

* * *

The Pocky and chocolate were both good. They had settled nicely in Sayaka's stomach.

"Thank you for sharing your food with me." Sayaka smiled, looking over and meeting Kyoko's gaze. "Really, I mean that."

"Oh, it was nothing. I can't eat everything." Kyoko chuckled.

"Really?" Sayaka raised an eyebrow, and then laughed herself. "I would have thought otherwise."

"Hey, I couldn't let that food go to waste."

* * *

"This pizza smells delicious," Kyoko commented, picking up a large slice covered in hot, gooey cheese. She took a big bite out of the end.

"I promised that I'd get you some," Sayaka responded, grabbing a bread stick. One of her slices sat on a plate in front of her, cooling off.

"This is the best date ever." Kyoko grinned. There was a bit of bright red sauce and cheese at the side of her lips.

Sayaka stuffed the bread stick into her mouth and tried to look away from her, face as red as her marinara sauce. Still, she could not help but smile at the other girl's words, and at the way that her heart fluttered and a rush of warmth ran through her.


End file.
